I have been home now for more than 3 days. I still feel like I'm in motion though. TechEd was amazing. I learned tons of really interesting stuff on SQL, BI, MIIS and a host of other goodies. But by far the best part was the people I met. So now that I'm back, here is my top 10 faves form TechEd (intentionally not in any order):

• MCTs - From Kim-Kim and Karla to Wayne and Jerry, I got to meet some realy great folks that are part of the MCT program. They manned the HOLs (Hands on Labs), worked the floor as ambassadors, spoke at breakout sessions and cabanas or like me were just attending. They made me feel very welcome at my first TechEd, which only made the event even better.
• SQL 2k5 - This thing ROCKS! There are so many additions to this product that I don't know where to begin. From DDL Triggers to CTE to table partitioning, there is something for everyone.
• Paul Adare's Virtual Server session - This was cool on 2 counts. First, if you have not messed with this product yet, get moving! VS was a linch-pin in the success of the HOLs and are making my life at the office more bearable. We are using it for development server instead of purchasing new physical hardware. Paul did a great job presenting on this (of course) and I did get to say "Hi" briefly and was thrilled that he actually recognized my name. Paul lives only an hour or so away but I had to go to Orlando to meet him. Very cool.
• MIIS - I got the chance to do an HOL on this and was surprised at how easy it was to set up and get things plugged in togher.
• HOLs - in all honesty, this would be #2 if I was to put the list in a specific order. Corey did an amazing job getting this together and the Proctors were great in helping out. There were a couple of glitches (I was seriously bummed about a BizTalk lab I wanted to do) but on the whole, the labs really made this a worth while learning experience.
• the parties - I was at Universal with 11,000 of my closest freinds on Thursday, Dinner with Doug, Karla and Rob on Friday, the MCT crew on Sunday prior to TechEd, MS took me out to dinner on Wednesday...
• Cabana sessions - I got to sit in on sessions by Brian Moran, Kalen Delaney, and Itzak Ben-Gan. If you don't know who these people are, pick up a copy of SQL Magazine. Or just read Kalen's "Inside SQL Server 2000". It is after all required reading if you work with MS SQL (or should be). Sadly these sessions were NOT recorded for posterity, so if you missed it, you missed it.
• Keynote Session by Steve - CEO Ballmer should just give up the day job and become a cheerleader <grin>
• SWAG-A-POLOZA! - The exhibitors there through tons of stuff at you. I had to purchase another duffle bag to bring it all back and still had to turf some of it.
• MCT Sessions - though it was closed to most attendees, we got some great news for the MCT program. I can't tell you what that is (hey it was a closed session) but there was considerable applause by all in attendance.

So that's the top ten of TechEd 2005. It was also great to meet Ed. He was a great host, picking me up from the airport and dropping me back off agian. Super guy. Hopefully I will get the chance to go to Boston next year. With the optomisitic thoughts in mind, see you next year!

Today was great! I started the morning with a Hands on Lab for SQL server 2005 (I love the new management studio, but I am not sure I will be able to dish it for Adhoc queries by end users <g>), followed by a Keynote on VS2k5/SQL2k5/Biztalk2k6. REALLY COOL! Next came the SQL 2k5 Analysis services which are greatly enhanced over 2000. Lunch came next and then it was a Cabana session on SQL Perf tuning by Brian Moran from Solid Quality Learning. Sadly, he had a few too many techincal difficulties, but the info was really good. I got his card and will get the Powerpoints off of him later. Next came another HOL on Reporting services in 2k5 followed by a nice session on SQL End to End Design adn deploy. For the record though, I am no where near SQL'd out.

So today was the first day of TechEd (officially) and even though the day got off to a bumpy start - work called, 'nuff said - it was very interesting. CEO Steve Balmer would make a good cheerleader. I do like to see the industry trends announced and there were a few things mentioned today. I also learned about some changes to the MCT programs that I am very pleased with. I also got to meet more MCTs and that is a real treat. But By far the most interesting of the day was the HOL I did at 7:30 in the morning (and proved yet again that I am not a coder) and a MCT only session about clustering that Rod Fournier delivered. Tonight was also the big swag-a-palooza night and I wandered around the OCCC with Karla and Doug Frisk. I scored about 4 t-shirts, 4 hats and squishy toys that my kids will fight over. I will have to dish out some of the goods when I get back home. I am sooooo tired though. I have a blister the size of iceland. Well, by the end of the week I guess it will be the size of alaska. The OCCC is too big to even discribe. At least I'm thinking of cool places; Florida is a suana.

Ok, got my flight. arrived and met up with Ed for dinner. Nice guy. Picked me up from the airport almost 5 minutes after I picked up my bags. Cool, but I was already wacked from the flight and the anticipation from the day. I was back to my room not long after dinner and I hit the pool (yes the pool) and wrote long letters to the Mrs and chillins prior to passing out.

Today, up at 6:00; breakfast from 6:30 till 6:50 (mmmm waffles); 6:50 to 7:30, the big SWEATY walk from my hotel to the Peabody. Wow, it's muggy here. I will try not to take the buses too often but it is way too humid to go completely without.

I attended the Security Summit today and really enjoyed the presentation on B-E security. Stan Riemer was the presenter and he is from Winnipeg, the place of my birth. Small planet but I wouldn't want to paint it. He dished out so much info that by almost 4 today my brain was full. Now it just hurts. Hopefully I will let the engines cool tonight while spending some time with the other MCTs.

Ran into Richard Civil and Serge Trombley, both of whom I have 'met' in the MCT private newsgroups. I wonder who else I will meet.

Oh, man my brain aches.

Well, several of my freinds have already left and I will be winging my way south in a few hours. I get picked up for the airport in a little over 2 hours. All of us techies heading for our digital Mecca in the Orange County Convention Center from all over the world. I know that I will be looking forward to meeting people from Australia, Germany, Italy, England, and both halves of the Americas. This is going to be sooooo cool.

If you are going to TechEd, you may have heard that we are entitled to one free copy of OneNote. Since I don't regularly use a tablet, I was not sure I would make use of this product, but thought I should find out what all the hubbub was about. I bought a Logitech IO digital pen (the old one not the new one) off of ebay to get a little more use out of it and began looking into OneNote. Pretty cool product, I thought. The IO pen made it a little better. I downloaded SP1 for OneNote so that I could make use of the Outlook Meeting Details importer. Just gets better and better! I think I may actually get to like the product. Heaven forbid I had a tablet!

Well, if that's not enough I stumbled across an entry from one of my RSS feeds that led me to a GREAT utility for OneNote that is specific to TechEd. Rob's Giant Head has created an importer for the TechEd 2005 Brakout sessions. I now have a complete list of all of the sessions for the week. I added my flight info, hotel info, some maps, my picks for sessions (using the Meeting Details importer) and a few others odds and ends and I have created a really great session calendar!

If you are heading to Orlando this weekend, you might want to grab this to sort out the sessions. WHAT A GREAT TOOL! Rob thanks so much for this amazing utility and thanks for that giant head of yours.

Now, if I can just get rid of this last dredges of this cold before the weekend...

Kent Tegels has put together his list of the 10 must sees. Obviously Kent is coming from the developer side of SQL as opposed to the Admin side. Speaking form the admin side of SQL here are the ones I am looking forward to:

1. DAT330  SQL Server 2005: End-to-End Part 1 (Design and Build)
2. DBA307  SQL Server 2005: End-to-End Part 2 (Deploy and Operate)
3. BOF021  Performance Optimization and Database Access in the Enterprise Environment with ADO.NET
4. BIN325  SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: A Deep Dive into the New Version of Analysis Services
5. MGT365  Consolidating and Migrating LOB Applications Using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
6. DAT250  SQL Server 2005: Bridging the Gap between Development and Administration
7. DAT400  SQLCLR vs. T-SQL: Best Practices for Development in the Database
8. DBA312  Upgrade and Migration: Planning Considerations for SQL Server 2005
9. SVR326  How to Build a Self-Service Application Using Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS)
10. DAT385  Using the New Microsoft Report Controls in Visual Studio 2005

Yeah, mine appear not so dev but still i think I might see Kent there. Ok, I'm in denial - they're half DAT and only 20% DBA. oh, I'm soooo ashamed ;)

I THINK I have finally got my calendar figured out for TechEd. The calendaring feature for the Breakout sessions has had me in knots for several days. Not surprisingly the bulk of my selections will revolve around the DBA/DAT/BIN tracks. I will pop in on a couple of others, but after pulling everything into my outlook calendar, I'm not sure I will have time to breath! I have already double booked for several sessions because some of the sessions that will be available to me are still being scheduled (kind of). These are the MCT only sessions and I would really like to hit all of those, but that means 10 more general availabilty sessions I wont be able to go to.

Fine, I'm starting to get my times figured out. Now for the HOLs (Hands on Labs). I think I can fit in some of those before 7 am and after 10 pm. Let's see how to schedule those. Oh oh, seems that the big teases at TechEd are keeping us on hold for a bit:

Lab scheduler coming soon!

oh, man....I'm gonna cry.

I recieved a comment from Richard:

I too was anxiously awaiting this feature... Now that the 27th has come and gone... I have looked several times today and have not been able to find any information on it??? Was it pushed off??? Does anyone know??? Published by: Richard Benfield

so, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? Well, Richard it was there. I was somewhat preoccupied earlier this week, but I had been over to have a look. For a brief period I was able to find enough of a schedule (based on the choices I had made earlier in the month). However I just popped back and the info was a no show. Now there may be something that I'm missing (I'll ask around for you guys) but currently it appears to be down. There is still the note that a calendaring feature will be available a month before TechEd, but currently I don't see it. Keep checking at the Return Visit Service Site and log in. Hopefully I will be able to tell you something soon. 

UPDATE: Wow, I must be really blind! I guess I just needed to follow the path back! Ok here's how you get to it:

just follow this link and log in using the username and password you got when you registered for TechEd:

http://www.msteched.com/sessions.aspx

now, I will get to spend the rest of the weekend finishing off my calendar. COOL!!!

hope that helps Richard ;)

April 27th is a big day for a couple of reasons. First (and most importantly) it's my oldest daughters birthday. She will be 15 this year. I hope she enjoys the birthday. Next its also Bob Simms birthday. Trainer extrodiniare and all around witty guy, Bob has some of the most enjoyable DIY stories. He's so fortunate to share my daughters birthday<g>. But there is an extra bonus for me this year.

April 27th is also the day when the personal calendaring feature of the TechEd website becomes available.  Most of the session information is likely now available (currently I see 584 different sessions at http://www.msteched.com/content/sessions.aspx), but I am really looking forward to being able to plug in what I will be doing when. That's where the calendaring tool will be great. I will be able to plan out which sessions I will get to see live.

I already have other items like visiting with a few FL friends lined up and I am definitely looking forward to meeting many people that I only get the chance to communicate with over the Internet, but the time will go by fast that week, I'm sure. I will have to plan out carefully what I will get to attend and make some tough choices about what to cut. I think I'll need to spend a lot of hours on it, but I can't wait to get the calendaring tools in my hands!

Well the numbers are starting to roll in for TechEd and the folks at Microsoft have been kind enough to share a couple of details with the MCT community to let us know how many of us there will be at TechEd. All tolled there is an estimate of about 400 MCTs at this years TechEd. They will be there as Speakers, Proctors for the Hands on Labs, Ambasadors, and just plain old attendees (like me). Ken told us that this is about double the number from last year. This is a fantastic opprotunity for you to get in touch with some really great people who enjoy helping others learn new technology. If you are at TechEd, don't be surprise at how many MCTs are there and be sure to say "Hi"

I heard earlier today from another MCT that TechEd was selling out and just noticed that Byron has announced it to the world. So I popped over to the TechEd site and found that IT'S OVER!!! TechEd is sold out.

Here's the quote from the site:

"Tech·Ed 2005 has sold out!

Due to tremendous demand, Tech·Ed 2005 has sold out. Limited space will become available through a waitlist. For details on joining the waitlist, please visit the Pricing & Registration page."

If you are going to be there, I look forward to seeing you. If you are not yet in, good luck with the waitlist. Hopefully you will still get the chance to go.

as of last night the TechEd session survey and BOF voting are closed. But if you do try to login now there is a nice little teaser:

"Please check back on April 27 for full session details when the personal calendaring tools become available."

the waiting is the hardest part.

Scott Hasselman and Rory Blyth have produced yet another goofy video promoting TechEd. This is the third in the series (series? why weren't they stopped after the first infraction?) If you are looking for a good laugh, have a peek at all three (the buch can be found through Drewby's blog). If you are going to TechEd, be afraid, be very afraid.

TechEd's main agenda page has been updated! It is so incredible that there are activities slated from 7 am till 9 pm every day (and fun stuff till 1am). They have slots for 21 break out sessions, so I will be digging into which ones I will be attending as well. The fun part of TechEd, in my humble opinion, will be the Hands On Labs!

(http://www.msteched.com/content/sessions.aspx and take the session type drop down for Hands On Labs).

 I have heard some amazing things about this and am really looking forward to the chance to get at the products I will be seeing in the sessions. I wish I could tell you about the HOLs but for now you will just have to take my word for it - they will be AWESOME! And don't worry about getting a seat. I hear the Orange Country Convention Center has a fairly large room <HUGE grin>. See you there

As TechEd approaches, I have been to the Birds of a Feather session repeatedly to see if there is anything that might interest me. I can't seem to find anything that would peak my curiosity though. Is it possible that I am "feather"-less? Will there be no "flock" for Neil? Well help me out. You can suggest a "Birds of a Feather" session and according to the page "By proposing a session you agree to host it and moderate the discussion at the conference. You do not have to be a subject matter expert in order to host a session. You have to have a genuine interest in the topic."

Kind of cool actually. So come on! There are currently only 2 BoF's suggested for IT Pros. Make a suggestion. Maybe I have that feather. Maybe a support group for people living with multiple ERP systems.

It's always fun to see your name in unxpected places. I popped over to the TechEd Bloggers Attendees page and noticed that the number had jumped to 21! Wow! And guess who else is on the list?

.

Well, other than one major snag, I am moving towards Orlando. Last night I booked my flight and the room is already booked as part of my registration. The whole process of getting myself there has been for the most part very painless. The one snag is the conference fee. There might have been a bit of confusion in the communication, but the folks (one in particular) at Microsoft have been great regardless. I hope that it won’t be a deal breaker for me, and I will try to keep positive that my pressing forward will still get me there. Still it didn't stop me from buying the flight cancellation insurance.

On the plus side I am beginning to look at which tracks I would like to follow for the breakout sessions. Of course I will be looking at the Database Admin track but I will want to pop my head in to the Db Design, Business Intelligence, Messaging, Portal and Server Infrastructure tracks. So much I want to see and not enough hours to see them! It’s a really good thing that there will be the DVD sets for after the event. Well I better make up my mind before April 11th. Not only is that my birthday, it’s the final day for the Session Preference Survey.

I began the process of registration for TechEd today. I knew there would be a few problems but decided to push forward any way. After attempting to fill out all of the forms I hit a snag. I had 2 discount codes and only space for one. I had been assured that I could use both discounts. I called the registration office and they told me to forward them all the information and to register with one code. I did. I just hope the other discount can be used or that's another $300USD that I will have to deal with.